Listening to a recent Marketplace Business News podcast, I was surprised to learn of recent data that reveals a significant shift in the caregiving landscape: for the first time, more adults in the U.S. are now providing informal care for their elderly relatives, spouses, or neighbors than for their preschool-aged children. This demographic and social transformation has profound implications for workforce management, employee well-being, and organizational productivity. Businesses that have not yet adopted elder care employee benefits should consider doing so now to remain competitive, inclusive, and responsive to employee needs.

Key Statistics

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and recent studies by SeniorLiving.org and SHRM, over fifty-three million Americans—approximately 1 in 5 adults—are unpaid caregivers for aging relatives, spouses, or neighbors. More than thirty-seven million of these caregivers are specifically providing elder care to individuals aged sixty-five or older. Fifty-three percent of family caregivers also work full-time jobs, balancing employment with an average of 20 hours per week of caregiving.

In contrast, the number of U.S. employees caring for preschool-aged children has been declining due to demographic shifts, including lower birth rates and increased access to early childhood education programs in many areas of the country.

These figures underscore a critical reality for U.S. businesses: elder care is no longer a fringe issue—it has become a mainstream workforce concern.

Caregivers often face significant financial and logistical challenges. Many struggle with how to get paid for taking care of elderly parents or wonder if Medicare covers any part of elderly care, all while trying to arrange reliable elderly home care for their loved ones. Without adequate support, these employees can be stretched thin, juggling full-time jobs with what essentially becomes a second shift of caregiving. These difficulties underscore why offering comprehensive elder care benefits is becoming critical for employers.

Why Businesses Should Act Now

U.S. businesses stand to gain significantly by offering elder care benefits to their employees, including in the areas of employee retention, productivity, and overall company culture, which are discussed briefly here:

• Talent Retention and Recruitment: Employees with elder care responsibilities are far more likely to experience burnout, absenteeism, and overall job dissatisfaction. Offering employees elder care benefits—such as flexible schedules, paid family leave, and access to care coordinators—can significantly improve employee retention and the ability to attract top talent, particularly among mid-career professionals who are statistically most likely to be caregivers.
• Productivity and Engagement: The stresses associated with caregiving directly impact workplace performance. Studies have shown that caregivers report higher levels of emotional stress, sleep disruption, and depression. Providing support to those caregivers can reduce employee presenteeism and improve overall focus, morale, and engagement.
• Equity and Inclusion: Women represent nearly 60% of all family caregivers, and they disproportionately bear the burden of elder care. Employee elder care benefits thus may be viewed as a gender equity issue, helping to level the playing field for women in leadership and advancement.
• Legal and Compliance Consideration: Navigating post-disability employment and benefits eligibility can be legally complex. Eldercare employee benefits can help prevent situations where an employee might need to take extended or sudden FMLA-covered leave due to elder care responsibilities, reducing potential disruptions to the workforce. By offering support and resources like elder care benefits, employers can help employees manage their caregiving duties more effectively, reducing the likelihood of needing FMLA leave.

What are the downsides for Employers to Elder Care Benefits?

While the case for elder care benefits is strong, businesses should also weigh potential challenges:

• Cost Implications: Subsidizing elder care services or expanding leave policies may increase short-term costs. However, these are often offset by gains in retention and reduced turnover.
• Administrative Complexity: Implementing elder care programs requires thoughtful design, clear eligibility criteria, and coordination with benefits providers.
• Equity Across Life Stages: Employers must ensure that elder care benefits complement, rather than compete with, other family-friendly policies, such as parental leave or childcare subsidies.

Current Practices Among Small and Medium-Sized Businesses

While large corporations most often lead the way in offering comprehensive employee elder care benefits, small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are increasingly recognizing the need to support employees with caregiving responsibilities for elderly family members. The most common types of elder care benefits currently being offered by SMBs are:

• Flexible Work Arrangements: To help manage caregiving duties, many SMBs provide employees with flexible scheduling, remote work options, and compressed workweeks. These accommodations are often informal but can be critical for employee retention and morale. For example, allowing an employee to work remotely a few days per week can help them care for elderly parents at home while maintaining productivity.
• Paid and Unpaid Leave: Some SMBs extend their family leave policies to include elder care, offering either paid or unpaid time off. These arrangements are often handled informally, on a case-by-case basis, especially in tight-knit organizations.
• Caregiver Support Services: A growing number of SMBs are partnering with elder care management firms to offer services such as care coordination and planning, access to geriatric care managers, and referrals to home health aides, elderly home care providers, or assisted living facilities.
• Health Insurance Continuity: Some SMBs are exploring ways to maintain health coverage for employees transitioning to part-time roles due to caregiving responsibilities. This can be challenging, however, as many health insurance plans do not extend benefits to part-time staff.
• Legal and Financial Planning Resources: Some forward-thinking SMBs have begun to offer access to legal consultations (e.g., with attorneys specialized in elder care law) or financial planning services specifically tailored to elder care, including estate planning, power of attorney, and long-term care insurance.

Conclusion

The caregiving paradigm in the U.S. has shifted. As more employees are caring for aging parents or family members than for young children, businesses must step up to meet this new reality. Elder care benefits are not just a compassionate gesture—they are a strategic business imperative. By moving to implement employee elder care benefits now, organizations can foster a more resilient, inclusive, and future-ready workforce.

If you need help navigating caregiver or other employee benefits, or other employment policies or practices, please feel free to reach out to Doug Taylor at Bean, Kinney & Korman, P.C. at (703) 526-5586, rdougtaylor@beankinney.com. Our firm practices in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia in addition to various other jurisdictions.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not contain or convey legal advice. Consult a lawyer. Any views or opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and are not necessarily the views of any client.